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Most (if not all) people are creative to various extents. It's just
that some people act on their ideas and others ignore them. Inventors and artists take
action on their ideas. How may people have said "I could have done that". The
response to that is "Well, why didn't you?" or "Too late...someone else
thought of it first".
That is the whole purpose of creativity training...to develop one's
ability to generate and implement new ideas.
Different people have different levels and abilities of creativity,
much like anything else that is a skill However, everyone can be creative if they want to
be.
And like other skills, creativity can be developed. Often people will
think they aren't creative because they are basing their opinion on a skill they don't
have, e.g. "I am a lousy painter." But that doesn't mean I can't be creative as
a painter even though I make horrid stuff. A lack of creativity is not what is limiting my
output as a painter.
Creativity, the ability to generate novel responses to problems and
challenges, in a basic human ability. Some people are encouraged to express their creative
ability more than others and may even get rewarded for doing so. Artists, in addition to
expressing their creativity, also have traits like manual dexterity, good eye-hand
coordination and other skills than enable them to more fully express their creative
thoughts. Similarly, athletes, teachers, scientists and auto mechanics have special skill
sets that enable them to express their creative ideas.
In western societies people seem to assign certain universal human
abilities, like creativity, to only a subset of all people (usually artists, musicians and
architects) making it more difficult for all members of society to see themselves as
creative people. This is a Western myth that we must be aware of and work to overcome.
Some people have extraordinary talents in fields that have been
recognized as "creative." When they combine these extraordinary talents with the
determination and persistence that it takes to achieve skill mastery, they are recognized
as creative artists. Inventors are generally better than average at channeling their
creativity towards practical ends, whereas artists are better at expressing themselves
creatively.
There are, however, many ways of being creative. Each of us can be
creative if we recognize our unique talents and develop mastery in those areas. That is no
guarantee that the world will recognize us... but it does provide the soul satisfaction
that comes with living a creative life.
Thus, we can freely assert that creativity is found in all people and
that creative talents can be increased with study.
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